阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
Diets have changed in China — and so too has its top crop. Since 2011, the country 1.（grow）more corn than rice. Corn production has jumped nearly 125 percent over 2. past 25 years, while rice has increased only 7 percent.
A taste for meat is 3. (actual) behind the change: An important part of its corn is used to feed chickens, pigs, and cattle. Another reason for corn's rise: The government encourages farmers to grow corn instead of rice 4. (improve) water quality. Corn uses less water 5. rice and creates less fertilizer(化肥) runoff. This switch has decreased 6. (pollute) in the country's major lakes and reservoirs and made drinking water safer for people.
According to the World Bank, China accounts for about 30 percent of total 7. (globe)fertilizer consumption. The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture finds that between 2005—when the government 8. (start) a soil-testing program 9. gives specific fertilizer recommendations to farmers - and 2011, fertilizer use dropped by 7.7 million tons. That prevented the emission(排放) of 51.8 million tons of carbon dioxide. China's approach to protecting its environment while 10. (feed) its citizens "offers useful lessons for agriculture and food policymakers worldwide." says the bank's Juergen Voegele.
I had worried myself sick over Simon’s mother coming to see me. I was a new____, and I gave an honest account of the students’ work. In Simon’s case, the grades were awfully low. He couldn’t read his own handwriting.____he was a bright student. He discussed adult subjects with nearly adult comprehension. His work in no way reflected his____.
So when Simon’s mother entered the room, my palms(手掌心) were sweating. I was completely____for her lisses on both my cheeks. “I came to thank you,” she said, surprising me beyond speech.____me, Simon had become a different person. He talked of how he____me, he had began to make friends, and for the first time in his twelve years, he had____spent an afternoon at a friend’s house. She wanted to tell me how grateful she was for the____I had nurtured(培养) in her son. She kissed me again and left.
I sat, stunned (惊呆), for about half an hour,____what had just happened. How did I make such a life-changing difference to that boy without____knowing it? What I finally came to____was one day, several months before, when some students were____reports in the front of the class, Jeanne spoke____, and to encourage her to raise her voice, L had sai, “Speak up. Simon’s the expert on this. He is the____one you have to convince, and he can’t hear you in the____of the room.” That was it. From that day on, Simon had sat up straighter, paid more attention,____more, and became happy. And it was all because he____to be the last kid in the last row. The boy who most needed____was the one who took the last seat that day.
It taught me the most____lesson over the years of my teaching career, and I’m thankful that it came____and positively. A small kindness can indeed make a difference.
1.A. cleaner B. reporter C. monitor D. teacher
2.A. Or B. And C. But D. So
3.A. courage B. abilities C. feelings D. dream
4.A. desperate B. responsible C. unprepared D. unsuitable
5.A. Because of B. In spite of C. Apart from D. As for
6.A. loved B. envied C. pleased D. criticized
7.A. gradually B. constantly C. recently D. obviously
8.A. self-respect B. self-doubt C. self-pity D. self-defence
9.A. imagining B. observing C. wondering D. regretting
10.A. also B. even C. always D. still
11.A. expect B. remember C. believe D. accept
12.A. writing B. reviewing C. editing D. giving
13.A. quietly B. repeatedly C. quickly D. firmly
14.A. lucky B. lonely C. only D. likely
15.A. entrance B. middle C. front D. back
16.A. slept B. smiled C. shouted D. quarreled
17.A. intended B. pretended C. refused D. happened
18.A. change B. praise C. thanks D. visits
19.A. difficult B. painful C. valuable D. enjoyable
20.A. early B. slowly C. frequently D. occasionally
根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出正确的填入空白处。选项中有两项为多余选项。This Way to Dreamland Daydreaming means people think about something pleasant, especially when this makes them forget what they should be doing. Daydreamers are usually unknown of what’s happening around them. They can seem forgetful and clumsy(笨拙的).1.They trouble us because they seem to be ignoring us and missing the important things.But daydreamers are also responsible for some of the greatest ideas and achievements in human history.2.Can you imagine what kind of world we would have without such ideas and inventions?So how can you come up with brilliant daydreams and avoid falling over tree roots or looking like a fool?First, understand that some opportunities for daydreaming are better than others. Feeling safe and relaxed will help you to slide into daydreams.3.And if you want to improve your chances of having a creative idea while you’re daydreaming, try to do it while you are involved in another task—preferably(最好) something simple, like taking a shower or walking, or even making meaningless drawings.4.“Mindfulness”, being focused, is a tool that some people use to avoid falling asleep. It involves(需要) slow, steady breathing for self-control that helps people stay calm and attentive.Finally, you never know what wonderful idea might strike while your mind has moved slowly away.5.Always remember that your best ideas might come when your head is actually in the clouds.
A. They stare off into space and wander by themselves. |
B. Having interesting things to think about also helps. |
C. Without wandering minds, we wouldn’t have Coke relatively. |
D. At one time, daydreaming was thought to be a cause of some mental illnesses. |
E. Daydreams are often very simple and direct, quite unlike sleep dreams, which may be hard to understand. |
F. It’s also important to know how to avoid daydreams for those times when you really need to concentrate. |
G. Therefore, it’s a good idea to keep a notebook or voice recorder nearby when you’re in the daydream zone. |
At one time it was the dream of many little girls to become a nurse. Today, however, America is facing its worst nurse shortage since World War I. Recently about 2,000,000 nurses are needed and 60 percent of all hospitals in the US have shortages, large enough to threaten the quality of care provided. The demand for nurses spreads widely throughout the nursing field.
What has become of these women in white? The answer lies in not one but several causes. One possibility is the fact that women have greater career options. In the past, women who chose to work outside the home had two basic choices: nursing or teaching. Today, more women than ever are in the workforce, but their options have greatly increased. There are women doctors, lawyers, firefighters and police officers. In fact, women today are found in nearly every field of work. Nursing has been left behind, as women move on to jobs with higher pay and greater status. A woman or man in the nursing field is often looked down upon as“merely a nurse”. Teachers many be also at fault. Many high school students are actually away from nursing, told by teachers that they are“too bright to be a nurse”.
Americans are living longer than ever and requiring more medical attention. In fact, the number of elderly patients has almost doubled in the past twenty years. Obviously a larger population requires more nurses. AIDS and other diseases have caused more and more people to need nursing care. Usually fatal(致命的) diseases mean long hospital stay, that is to say, more nurses are needed to care for these patients. It is estimated that the demand for nurses will be doubled the supply in the coming ten years.
1.What does the second paragraph mainly talk about?
A.How teachers have influenced their students.
B.What has caused nurse shortage.
C.How nurses have been looked down upon.
D.Why women have chosen many different jobs.
2.The passage tells that high school teachers are at fault for .
A.not mentioning the worst nurse shortage in the US
B.introducing jobs with higher pay and greater status to their students
C.persuading the students not to be nurses
D.not asking the government to raise the nurses’ payment
3.The author writes the passage in order to .
A.warn people to pay more attention to the nursing problem
B.call on women to choose different kinds of jobs
C.tell us women’s free choices of jobs today
D.describe the unequal treatment of women in the US
4.It can be inferred from the passage that .
A.of all the hospitals in the world 60 percent more nurses are badly needed
B.women in the US have greater career choices than those in other countries
C.high school students think themselves too bright to be nurses
D.nursing used to be a popular job among women
Recently, many e-commerce platforms, including Didi Taxi, Ctrip, Fliggy, JD ad Taobao, have been uncovered that they are cheating their frequent customers. Their ways are pretty clever. When there are new users or conservative old users, they will give a quite appealing price to attract them into registering and buying goods. However, their big data is not that friendly to the stable users and frequent visitors. The system always offers them higher price for the same products or service. How does this happen? According to the data analysis, the system knows clearly that although they feel the price is high, they will finally pay the bill. By collecting and analyzing users’ profiles, buying habits and other information, big data recommends the same products to different users with different prices.
Companies also try other ways to make money, making online consumption far more worrying. For example, video websites always offer 120 seconds’ advertisements, which drives people crazy. And even if you pay for the membership to get rid of the ads, you have to “enjoy” 15-second “private” ads. By broadcasting them, companies make huge profits — second to the membership fees. Also, owning 100Mbps network, you still put up with the slow speed when you are downloading a song. You have no choice but to become a VIP when you seek high quality services. Users seem to be lambs(羊羔) among wolves. Even though they say, “Since you have money, I’ll charge you more”, we can’t do anything about it.
It pains us that we haven’t figured out a way to deal with the problem. The only thing we can do is replacing our iPhones with Android phones if we want to buy a membership card, and applying for new accounts if we want cheaper hotels. Not finding a way to fight back, we can’t do anything but accept them passively.
1.How does big data serve companies according to the text?
A.By being kind to all users.
B.By giving a discount to stable users.
C.By attracting new users by analyzing their shopping habits.
D.By recommending the same products with higher prices to regular users.
2.What do we know from the third paragraph?
A.Membership can rid you of all the ads.
B.Only by being a VIP can you get a better service.
C.The slow download speed is due to your poor network.
D.Advertising income is the biggest income for video websites.
3.What is the author’ attitude towards the chances of finding a way to fight back?
A.Uncertain. B.Casual.
C.Negative. D.Positive.
4.What is the main idea of the text?
A.The big data provides helpful information to users.
B.We have to accept online consumption as it is.
C.There exist many online consumption traps.
D.Regular customers are richer.
This holiday weekend will be about more than Thanksgiving treats and extra days off from school for eighth-grader Shreya Nair. Shreya will also spend some of her time conducting an interview that will end up in the Library of Congress.
Shreya, 13, is participating in a StoryCorps initiative called The Great Thanksgiving Listen. The project encourages students to interview family members and friends about their lives in an effort to preserve the stories and voices of an older generation.
“ It would be interesting to see her view on life and how it’s different from mine based on the circumstances she grew up in,”Shreya said about her interview.
StoryCorps' aim is to use audio to preserve the stories of people of all ages and backgrounds. Students will be able to record their interviews using a new app and upload them to the StoryCorps Archive at the Library of Congress.
Shreya’s English teacher decided to get involved in spreading the word about the project, by assigning the interview as homework. Alison Matthews teaches Shreya at McCall Middle School in Winchester, Massachusetts. She incorporated(纳入) the StoryCorps interview assignment into a unit on the book, The Giver. Matthews describes the novel as a“story about this community where there’s one man — the giver — who holds all the memories of the community.”
“The StoryCorps project fit in so perfectly. The Library of Congress is the keeper of our memories. So I asked kids to think about the importance of memory in our society,” Matthews said.
Shreya said that her classmates like the assignment.”It’s an interview that will help us not only understand the book we’re reading right now, but help us later in life,” Shreya said. “One of the things I like about the project is that you get to hear so many other people’s voices,”she added. “Sometimes in this world it feels like our opinion is the only one, but when you sit down and listen, it’s amazing what it can bring.”
1.Whom might Shreya meet this holiday weekend?
A.Her grandmother. B.one of her cousins.
C.Her English teacher. D.one of her classmates.
2.What is the purpose of the project?
A.To start a new tradition.
B.To narrow the distance between people.
C.To record history through oral communication
D.To teach students to communicate more effectively.
3.Why does Matthews support the project?
A.It fits in a lesson perfectly.
B.It is a new teaching method.
C.Her students want to learn about interviewing.
D.Her students want to visit the Library of Congress.
4.What might be the best title of the passage?
A.A Holiday Weekend.
B.A Girl Participating in a New Project.
C.An Interview to the Older Generation.
D.A Meaningful Thanksgiving Day.
